Why people think that a musician who shows emotion is better?

Question:i mean, every musician shows his feelings and you can't say that someone feelings are better than other's ones. the reason why you would think that is because you don't understand those feelings. i think the only thing that makes a musician better than other is his musical knowledge and technique, what do you think?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: i mean, every musician shows his feelings and you can't say that someone feelings are better than other's ones. the reason why you would think that is because you don't understand those feelings. i think the only thing that makes a musician better than other is his musical knowledge and technique, what do you think?

No! Musical knowledge and technique does not equal everything. If someone has a whole wealth of both but his playing is next to emotionless, how can he be good? How can he convey the music's message to the audience? By cold technique and knowledge alone? Musical knowledge, technique AND musicality (natural emotional sensitivity to the music) is what makes a good musician. Of the 3, most musicians will agree that musicality is the most important. Interpretation also doesn't equal everything. You can be a great interpreter of the music but again, if your playing is emotionless, it means NOTHING. You're not doing justice to the piece. I hate to sound rude but it really means nothing. People react to the music emotionally, not using a whole bunch of mathematical reasoning/nit-picking on technique/etc. (you get it). There's a reason why musicians have to be 'musical' - they have to feel the music in themselves before they can make the audience feel those emotions. Natural musicality cannot totally be taught. You have to have some sort of musical sensitivity to start with before you can be taught to play a piece of music musically. A more sensitive and musical pianist (I'm using piano as an example) would naturally show more emotion on stage, subconsciously or not. I'm not talking about over-emoting, I'm referring to showing a decent amount of emotion. Hardly anyone can connect with a pianist who's just sitting there stiffly, not moving to his own music but simply hammering out notes with his fingers - the average audience does not know much about technique and does not go to concerts for the sake of listening to technique, so the only way they decide if the performance is good or not is whether the performer managed to stir their hearts. Audiences go to concerts to listen to MUSIC. That doesn't mean that audiences always assume a musician who over-emotes is better. Most people (professional or not) can tell when something is overdone. It makes them feel uncomfortable just watching, to say the least.

For the first part of your question: Sometimes that's the case, but sometimes it's not. The listeners have feelings too, and as I said before, they react emotionally to the music. Some musicians' emotions just seem to fit the music more - that's when we say this performer is better than another. We can feel when a musician has captured the right mood of the piece. Every musician shows emotions, but whether he shows correct or reasonable emotions is another question. The emotion we see from the performer has to make sense to the music. You don't act all sombre when playing a fun, skippy piece - it just doesn't make sense, and the audience knows it's wrong. There is hence a basis of comparison for saying someone's feelings are better (or more appropriate) than the others'.

Faye's answer can apply to both musicians and singers. Older instrumentalists who've had more life experience are usually able to interpret the music better, regardless of what style it is. Is the reason why you don't see many kids teaching adults how to interpret a certain piece. It usually works the other way round.

EDIT: How general/specific do you want me to be? Fine let me rephrase what I said. I said some emotions are more applicable to that section of the music than others. The composer wrote what kind of mood he wanted conveyed in the score (those dynamics, musical instructions, even the way the melody is constructed tells you a lot about what the composer had in mind while composing - if you can't tell what it is the composer GENERALLY wants conveyed by looking at the music, I don't know what to say.). It's up to the performer to bring across the composer's GENERAL intentions. You can't say someone's emotions are better than another's - that I agree - when you take the music out of context, but as it stands, nobody, professional or student, can say that a person banging out harsh chords during a wistful, melancholic section of the music marked 'dolce' (means play sweetly) is right, even if the performer himself thinks so. Isn't it common sense? I've honestly had enough of the stereotypical 'virtuoso' playing so commonly heard, but which only emphasizes technique and musical knowledge, throwing musicality out of the window. It gets boring watching these performers after a while, even though they might have seemed very impressive at the start. I go to concerts to connect with the music performed. If it fails to sustain my interest I blank out and start thinking about other things - and that's with musical education in me. How about those who don't have any music knowledge? Audiences are like that and you can hardly blame them. And I think saying that only musical knowledge and technique constitutes a good performer is a pretty stiff way of putting it. What about the music? You're performing music but the musical part isn't as important as the technical aspects?

And of course if you're playing music you composed yourself, there's no way the audience can say that you're wrong. Wouldn't we all want to hear the original composer playing what we perform? That's the most correct interpretation, isn't it?

*Go to a few typical 'virtuosic' performances by wannabe concert performers and you'll know why I say that. Yes virtuosos may compose their own music, but that doesn't mean that their compositions are 'good' enough to be performed on stage publicly (please don't say 'we can't judge whether a person's composition is good or not' because I'm talking about universally held expectations of good compositions). The typical 'job' of a concert musician (to most) is to perform others' music anyway. Many musicians compose their own music, but very few are actually good composers, or write enough to be called a composer. That's why most concert pianists/virtuosi stick with playing others' music instead. It's in a way simpler and not so time-consuming, if you compare practising from a score instead of writing your own scores.

people listen to music to relate to it. so its not really whose feelings are better, its whose feelings are most like the ones im feeling right now.

Jim Steinman nearly ruined Def Leppard when he was brought in to produce them because he was more interested in them pulling faces, sorry, showing emotion, than he was in what they sounded like. They ditched him and have never looked back.

No, you're wrong! I'm a singer and a musician and technical knowledge can only take you SO far. Singers who can get 'into' the song by showing some real emotion are better entertainers. They are not necessarily better singers, but I do think that in a way they act out the song and that is often why an older singer, who has a bit more life experience is often better at interpreting a song.

i agree with you, but other people might think that because when one musician's emotions are more evident than the other's, well, maybe the audience might assume that the former is more devoted than the latter

I like this question. I think that knowledge and technique are hugely important; all the soul in the world won't help you if you suck. On the other hand, a musician needs to be likable as a person, too, and people who don't mind saying what they're thinking are easier to relate to. I guess they're both equally important at some level. If you sound bad, no one will listen to you, but if no one cares about your music, no one will listen to you either.

Because it comes through in the music and that's what music is all about....emotions....right ???? I play classical guitar and when I play it with emotions I feel that I'm playing better then if I were to do it completely emotionless.....Have you ever heard of Spanish Romance....well when I play it with emotion I know that it sounds better then if I were to play it just technically correct. To hear this piece go on youtube and type in Peo Kindgren plays Jeux Interdits, AKA Romance.....I hope that this answers your question !!!!!